A Day in Philadelphia

I got up at a little before six this morning to go to Philadelphia to see the University of Pennsylvania. We took the train for an hour and a half to get to the city which allowed me to get in a decent sized nap. We ate a relaxed breakfast at the station before heading out to the University. Penn is only about six blocks away from the station but we took taxis due to the rain.

Once at the school we attended an info session and started a guided tour of campus. The rain was warm and I was tired of the heat of New York so doing the tour I chose to forgo an umbrella. I was utterly soaked but happy. The campus itself is very nice, the architecture is a nice blend of colonial and modern and busts of Benjamin Franklin are everywhere. It feels slightly less urban than Columbia but still maintains the feeling of city life.

After the tour we met with a few students and recent graduates of the university who had volunteered to tell us about their experiences with Penn. We talked with them over a cheesesteak lunch at a local diner. All of the students seemed really nice although I spent the majority of the time speaking with a man named Carlin. Carlin apparently started off as a computer science major before taking a drawing class that he enjoyed so much that he changed his major to digital art which incorporates elements of both CS and the fine arts. This was especially interesting to me because computer science currently tops my list of potential majors and although art has no appeal to me, it’s good to know that it is possible to change majors and still benefit from the original classes. I’d like to thank all of the students who generously took the time to speak to us, it really allowed us to develop a deeper understanding of the university. I think that I'll stay up a little longer tonight to do some research for my chemistry project.